Feed mechanism for printing machines



H. R. COON, SR, ET AL FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES OriginalFiled May 14, 1945 Nov. 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E .r. I

. lliri'u 1954 H. R. COON, sR., ET AL, 2,694,256

FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed May14, 1945 United States Patent FEED MECHANISM FOR PRlNTlNG MACHINESHarold R. Coon, Sn, and Earl J. Rapp, Toledo, Uhio, assignors to LynchCorporation, a corporation of Indiana 2 Claims. (Cl. 31-14 Our presentinvention relates to a printing machine for butter, oleomargarine, lardand similar products, the machine being entirely automatic in operation.This application is a division of our patent entitled Printing, Wrappingand Cartoning Machine for Butter and the Like, No. 2,592,793, issuedApril 15, 1952.

An important object is to provide butter feeding mechanism in the hopperof a machine of the type disclosed in our aforesaid patent, including arotating drum at one side of the hopper having radially movable bladeswhich project into the hopper for engaging the butter and feeding it tothe printer feed worms, and which are retracted from the butter as theyleave the hopper.

With these and other objects in view, our invention consists in theconstruction and arrangement and the combination of the various parts ofour device whereby the objects contemplated are obtained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in the claims and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of the machinedisclosed in our Patent No. 2,592,793, showing the printer worms forfeeding the butter from the hop er into print forming cavities;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the machine shownin our said patent, on line 22 of Figure 1, showing our novel rotaryhopper feed drum and related printer feed worm and print formingmechanism.

Figures 1 and 2 of this application are substantially the same asFigures 6 and 7 of our Patent No. 2,592,793. For facilitating crossreference, the same numerals are used in this application as in the saidpatent to indicate the same parts. Reference is made to said patent fora complete description of parts not described in the present aplication.

n the accompanying drawing we have used the numeral 154 to indicate abutter hopper. Within the hopper a pair of printer worms or feed screws156 and 158 are rotatablv mounted. The worms 156 and 158 rotate insemi-cvlindrical seats 160 and 162 of the hopper 154 with their forwardends rotating in tubular portions 16-4 of the hopper, as sh wn in Fi ure2. The rear ends of the rms are suitably journaled in bearings 166, andthe sh fts f r the worms terminate in square heads 168 (see Fi 1). Theheads 168 are received in square so kets 170 of coupling members 172,which coupling members are secured as bv keying to the Worm drive sh fts82 and 148. Suitable ackings 174 are provided t prevent escape ftransmissi n grease from the transmi i n h i 12 into the hop er 154.

A per f ed mec anism is provided in the form of a m 178 r tatable in asemi-cylindrical seat 181) (s i 2). The drum 178 has radial slots 182 ine h f w i h a fee er blade 184 is mounted for radial s i 1' g movement.Op site ends of the blades are provided with rollers 186 which travel incam grooves 188. The ro ves are f rmed in stationary cams 189 at eachend of the seat 180 and are so shaped that the blades are retractedduring the ri ht-hand half of the revolution (in Fig. 2) and extendedduring the left-hand half of the revolution. The blades 184 thereby iminge the butter in the hopper 154 and feed it downwardly toward theprinter worms 156 and 158.

The feeder drum 178 is mounted on a shaft 19 and the shaft is driven bysuitable gearing mechanism in a housing 192 (see Figs. 1 and 2) intowhich housing an eXtension 194 of the countershaft 139 projects. The shfts 9 and 194 are connected together by a coupling 196.

"ice

The gearing within the housing 192 comprises a bevel gear 198 meshingwith a bevel gear 2% on a shaft 202. The bevel gear 288 has a sprocket284 connected by a chain 206 (see Fig. 2) with a sprocket 208 on theshaft 190. An idler sprocket 218 is mounted on an adjustable arm 212 totake up slack in the chain.

The printer worms 156 and 158 terminate just short of right andleft-hand constricting nozzles 214 and 216 having outlet portions 218and 220 which are of a size to form the length and height of a quarterpound print of butter or the like.

Practical operation In the operation of our printing machine the butteror other product to be formed into prints is placed in the hopper 154.Actuation of a motor (not shown) effects rotation of the shafts 139, 82and 148 through suitable gearing and a drive connection, in the mannershown and described in detail in our said atent. While the butterprinter worms 156 and 158 are in operation, the feeder drtun 178 is alsooperating. The blades 184 extend into the hopper 154 for feeding thebutter downwardly toward the worms 156 and 158. These blades areretracted as they pass around the right half of the circular path, thuswithdrawing them from the butter and projecting them again when they arein position to engage the butter and force it downwardly toward theworms.

As clearly seen in Fig. 2, the rotary drum 178 is positioned above thefeeder worms so as to have its aXis of rotation positioned at rightangles to the longitudinal axes of the worms. In this manner, concurrentdrive of the rotary drum and feederworms effects a rotation of the drumin the direction of forward travel of the worms, thereby eifecting aneflicient compacting and feeding operation.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of our machine without departing from the real spirit and purposeof our invention, and it is our intention to cover by our claims suchmodified forms of structure or uses of mechanical equivalents as may bereasonably included within their scope.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a machine for forming prints of butter and the like, a hopper forsaid butter having a closed bottom, a feed Worm in said hopper adiacentthe bottom thereof, said hopper being formed with a discharge aperturealigned with said worm and with a side recess above said worm openinginto said hopper, a rotary drum mounted in said recess with its axis ofrotation being positioned above and at right angles to the lon itudinalaxis of said worm, means operatively connected with said drum forrotating said drum in the direction f f rward travel of said worm. aplurality of radially slidable blades mounted in said drum, meansoperativelv associated with said blades and actuated bv the rotation ofsaid drum to proiect into said hop er those blades facing said recessopening for forcing said butter towards said worm while retracting theremai in blades into said drum, said drum being s aced a sufficientdistance above said worm to provide clearance between said drum and theprojected blades of said worm.

2. A machine according to claim 1 in which said means for projecting andretracting said blades include stationarv cam slots Within said drum androllers carried by said blades and traveling in said cam slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 617,735 Godfrey Jan. 17, 1899 1,164.276 Fogarty Dec. 14, 19151,416.517 Sharp May 16, 1922 1,694,228 Miiller Dec. 4, 1928 2,019,002Drohmann et al Oct. 29, 1935 2,258,288 Heft et al Oct. 7, 1941 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date Australia Nov. 26, 1926 46,032 Denmark July27, 1932

